Less IT professionals losing jobs post hacking amid talent crunch

Less senior IT professionals are losing their jobs after their organisations were hit by hackers in 2021 as compared to previous years, as the demand for cybersecurity specialists remains high and more firms now believe in nurturing and retaining talent rather than handing over pink slips, a new report showed on Tuesday. 

There is a positive trend in how organisations respond to cybersecurity breaches globally, according to a Kaspersky study. 

In 2021, almost half as many organisations laid off senior IT staff (7 per cent in 2021 compared to 16 per cent in 2018) and senior IT security roles (13 per cent compared to 18 per cent in 2018) if a data breach occurs. 

The split of employees that could lose their job as a result of a cybersecurity breach has also changed. 

In addition to senior IT and IT security roles, C-level executives are now half as likely to be exposed to dismissals - 10 per cent in 2021 compared to 11 per cent in 2018. 

The decreasing trend is also relevant for non-IT senior staff. As a result, the overall split across IT and non-IT, senior and non-senior roles, became flatter than a few years ago, the findings showed. 

"The transfer to remote work and processes has put increased pressure on the information security sector. With cybersecurity jobs in such high demand and skilled professionals in low supply, companies are realising the value of senior security executives and the need to plug the talent gap," said Evgeniya Naumova, Executive VP, Corporate Business at Kaspersky. 

According to Gartner, 40 per cent of boards will have a dedicated cybersecurity committee overseen by a qualified director by 2025. 

With a continuing skills gap in the market, it should be important for organisations to save experts in their positions. 

The demand for retaining and nurturing expertise is seen, for example, in budget planning. 

Nearly 45 per cent of enterprises report the need to improve the level of specialist security expertise as the top reason to increase their IT security budget. 

In fact, this is the second most common reason, followed only by increased complexity of IT infrastructure (49 per cent). 

Furthermore, by investing in internal specialists, employers are interested in retaining their knowledge within the company so that employees could leverage their skills in future, the report noted. 

"The highest possible level of cybersecurity depends on an adequate strategy, represented by IT security experts," said Sebastian Artz, Head of Cyber and Information Security at Bitkom e.V., Germany's digital association.